Spielberg reviews 'Revenge of the Sith' on British radio

The legendary director calls Xfm to talk about 'Episode III' and 'War of the Worlds' while at the same time trying to win friend Chris Martin £10,000.

May  3 2005

It's not often that the world's most successful filmmaker phones a UK radio station for a chat, but that's just what happened this morning when Steven Spielberg called Xfm's breakfast show.

The 'Jaws' director was taking part in the radio station's 'Bounty Hunter' competition, in which members of the public persuade celebrities to call in for the chance of winning £10,000 (as well as £5,000 for the celeb's charity of choice).

However, the member of the public in question this morning was Coldplay's Chris Martin, and his celebrity of choice just happened to be the director of  'ET', 'Jurassic Park' and 'Schindler's List'.

Clearly flabbergasted, breakfast show host Christian O'Connell nevertheless pulled himself together to ask the Hollywood legend about his latest project 'War of the Worlds', which is currently in post-production.

Spielberg said his adaptation of the HG Wells classic 'kicks butt', adding that it will be very scary and very tense.

The director also revealed that he saw 'Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith' a week and a half ago, and that it was 'absolutely amazing, the best of the last three films'.

He said that George Lucas's film, which hits UK cinemas on May 19, was very dark, and warned listeners: 'You'll cry at the end.'

Whether persuading Spielberg to phone in will be enough to win Martin the cash remains to be seen, but he faces stiff competition from the likes of Johnny Vegas, Billie Piper, Fred Dineage and Darth Vader himself, David Prowse, all of whom have called the breakfast show in the last few days.

The competition continues until Friday (6 May).